I remember the first time I saw a teenage girl wearing a "stop snitching" t-shirt at the Gallery Mall. I wanted to ask her how she could wear such a thing, but an even better question would be who would make and sell a shirt like that. Suppose I made a t-shirt saying that I support rampant criminality and a culture of unchecked violence on Philadelphia's streets. Not catchy enough? How about: "Snitching is worse than rape or murder," which is essentially the moral code at work here.
There's a great article on the subject in yesterday's paper, explaining why witness intimidation is a big reason Philadelphia has the nation's lowest conviction rate for felony crime among large urban counties. (http://www.philly.com/philly/news/special_packages/78794487.html) "These rats deserve to die, right or wrong? ... My war is with the rats. I'm a hunt every last one bitch that I can, and kill 'em," said Kaboni Savage, accused of running a multimillion dollar drug ring and ordering the murder of at least seven witnesses.
The article is comprehensive but does not delve deep enough into the question of how signed witness testimony can get released and distributed, sometimes even posted on restaurant walls and telephone poles like a lost dog notice. It should be illegal for defense lawyers to give their clients copies of such statements, and lawyers should be held accountable if copies appear around town. When in my job as a writer I get emails from sources at law firms, they contain very specific statements warning against copying and distribution of confidential materials. These people know how to manage paperwork.
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